Interphase Transport in an Emulsion: Tartaric Acid

The individual compounds in an emulsion of tartaric acid stabilized by a commercial surfactant, Laureth 4, were brought into contact in order to estimate the deviation from equilibrium conditions during emulsion evaporation. The transfer of compounds between the phases was followed by visual observation of new phases appearing and the movement of the interfaces with time. The results revealed that, conversely to the equilibrium processes in the corresponding salicylate emulsions, in the present system the dissolution of the acid was faster than the formation of birefringent structures and the variation of different colloidal structures could be followed in the experiment. A suitable choice of initial ratio between the three compounds enabled the transfer of compounds to result in an early depletion of the solid acid and subsequently information could be obtained about the relation between the transport of surfactant and water-acid solution into the birefringent layer. A significant dependence was found between the composition of the entrants into the layer and the amount of surfactant liquid remaining.